1st Win of 2014

Yesterday was the Grande Prairie Press Run 1/2 Marathon and I was very excited to get the win, especially considering the lack of long run training. It's been a tough few weeks leading up to the race work, family, travel have taken up the majority of my time by I've managed to squeeze in a few runs but only a couple 21k's outside. Most of my training runs were in the 12-14km range and it's a long way to race when you've been training 2/3rd's of the distance you are racing. Needless to say I felt great for the first 10k, heart rate was under control, legs felt really good, and pace was right on track at about 3:45mins/km. When I got to the turn around however I knew it was going to be tough to hold on. There are some small rollers at about 12 & 13k and they just zapped my legs.

I was really struggling when I got to the 14k mark and was just in damage control mode after that. The rest of the race was a real mental battle and I needed to take a couple short walks just to get the heart rate under control but the final 1/3rd meant I wasn't going to meet my goal time of 1:20 or less. I wasn't too worried about my time, I knew I was giving it everything I had and based on my training it's definitely what I knew was going to happen. I just held on the best I could and was glad I opened a 4min gap in the first 10k, the 2nd half I didn't gain any time but didn't lose any either. Finished with a great 1:21.05 and my 4th win at this race.

Balancing Act

Ryder in his new Speed Revolution Tech T

It's really tough being a father and an athlete but I do my best to be good at both. I know sometimes things get out of balance but I make sure I have enough time in my schedule to do the things I love and spend time with my family. I came to a big realization last weekend, maybe I was getting a little too 'into' my training and I wasn't pulling the numbers I was hoping for but I finally had the slap across my face to give my head a shake and just be appreciative of the time I do have to train. I said to myself if this is causing you to be depressed or to have more stress in your life then why are you doing it? The truth is I absolutely love training and racing but I love my family more and if one causes stress on the other then just don't do it. I don't know if I can ever see myself not racing at different points in my life, but there are times when it needs to take a backseat. I do feel like I spend quite a bit of time with Amber and Ryder but it's tough when the day is filled with laundry, cleaning, yard work, repairs and chores. There never seems to be enough hours in the day. I want to keep this year fun and fresh, light and easy and that's why I made the decision to not race IM Calgary 70.3 this year. The truth is that I don't think any IM events are healthy for a relationship unless you can do it with your spouse, at least not for me.

Ryder with the new Speed Revolution bottles

I'm still hoping I can do some local races and get in my training and racing 'fix' but it'll be a lot easier not to have to worry about when I'm going to get in my 3hr ride and 2hr run. I just want to hang out with my family and friends and be active doing it. I put away my Garmin, heart rate monitor, and now I'm just going out and treating every swim, ride or run like it's my first one. Remember when you had no expectations about how your run 'should have' gone and you were happy to do the training and felt excited about getting it done. That's what I'm feeling again, it's nice to just put away my expectations and forget about hitting certain targets before IM and just feel active and healthy again.